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RPlog:A Pirate's Trap
The CSAV Litigator's hangar bay is bustling with activity, due to it's current military campaign, with assault shuttles being stuffed with ESPOs, and sent off under the escort of the VSD2's Z-100 Centurions to shut down pirate facilities. There is also a visiting contingent of armed CorSec officers, under the command of Colonel Twila Virda, as this particular self-styled "Pirate Lord", has Corellian connections that have yet to be fully sussed out. Today's mission was meant to be another one of these simple capture, and destroy strikes, undertaken by the CorSec folks under Twila, and a contingent of the Litigator's newly formed special operations team, aptly, if bluntly titled, Force Litigator. All they need is for Captain Delede, to return from his flyby. But, these things have a way of going horribly, horribly wrong. A Klaxon alarm sounds within the Hangar, as the Chir'Daki, Gren's personal Centurion enters the bay, flying in an erratic manner, as if it's pilot is either drunk, or unskilled. Which rules out Delede, as he's perfectly skilled, even when flying drunk! The tractor beams kick into life, and settle the matte black starfighter to a clear deck, and damage control teams rush toward the battle-damaged Z-100, who's astromech SH0RTY is all but screaming, as the reflective black canopy has yet to open. Wuv stands before a squad of Espo guards as he walks down the line of twelve men looking them over. "Wuv I want you men to pay close attention to everything while we are on this ship do you understand me?" Wuv shouted as the men acknowledge Wuv's order. It has been a while since the last time Colonel Virda got to face down some pirates, the last time having resulted in quite a lovely leg wound, and she can't help but to stand around, looking twenty different kinds of impatient. Her men, numbering ten, are also edgy, most likely from the Twi'lek's own eagerness to fight. "Listen to me closely when orders are given, do not question, just do. Save the asking of questions until later." The men nod as she says that, their attention on her voice as well as their gear. Among those gathered on the CorSec side is the Lieutenant Lan'desdin, or better known as Vernista; Vern. Tight black curls fall in a mass, restrained by a thick band. The tattoo of a talon around her left eye makes the amber eyes gleam. Nodding to the Colonel's words she touches the blaster at her side, fingers itching to grab hold. She touches a talon shaped pendant before letting fingers rest it back into place over her armor. "We are ready when you are" In the far port-bow corner of the Litigator's hangar, Cube sits atop a small crate with datapad in hand and sword layed across his lap. "Feck..." yah, thats a classic line from em alright. Still, eyes move to the errattic fighter for a moment, decidedly not care when the tractor beams activate. "Feck..thought it would be crashin...never got ta see da impact specs on dem centurions.." shrugging away his dissapointment while shoving the datpad into a pocket. Hefting the sword in his right hand, he stands, the blade coming up to lean against his shoulder comfortably. "Feckers...thinkin' volunteerin wit da ESPO goons will be gettin' me mind off da drink....makes me wanna be drinkin more...". Yah, he's irritable, but with good reason. Shakir stands amidst the bustling goings on of the hangar bay. He looks around quickly, gathering as much information as possible. A small holo-recording device rests on his ear, and a data pad firmly in his hand. He takes a deep breath and sighs heavily as he looks over the group he has been attached to. The damage control teams, assisted by a repair droid, speaking binary back at SH0RTY, finally convince the little black and gold coward to pop the canopy, only to reveal an empty cockpit. No pilot. That might explain the rather shoddy flying by the terrified little astromech. The astromech is hastily removed from the smoking Centurion, as repair crews go to work, and quickly hits the deck, it's little wheels carrying it as fast as it can, as it scans the massive bay for a recognizable face....which it finds, in the form of Colonel Virda, who somehow missed her lover's ship making a mess of the landing. SH0RTY begins to spin in a circle hooting, and generally bitching for Twila's attention, before clicking on his holocamera, displaying a recording that appears to show the barren landscape of a moonlit desert. The angle of the recording indicates that he was in his astromech socket, at the time. On the deck, in holo, is Captain Delede, looking up.."It's nothing, just going to take a closer look. They didn't see us land, you'll be fine, you little cowardly can." A shake of his head, and he hefts his grenade launcher.."I'll be fine. But, if something does happen, get your ass back to the Litigator, and get help. But, make sure they don't bring the whole fraggen picket fleet...no capitol ships...show them the scans of those explosive-laden freighters." A trap, it seems? A muttered curse, and the holo-espo turns his back on the camera, and heads into the desert, toward what appears to be a small mountain...but he hasn't gone far before black shapes appear out of the sand, and open fire on him with stun blasts...dropping the man like a sack of meat. That's all the useful information that's gotten, as a scream is heard from the recording astromech, and the landscape goes crazy, as he takes off in a hurry. One of the techs, an officer in charge of the bay, comes jogging over to Wuv, and holds out a datapadd. "I've got the coordinates of the starfighters' last landing, Sir. Don't know what the hell happened to the pilot. There were also a number of interesting scans, stored in the computer...a large fleet of freighters of varying sizes, all showing no life signs, but high concentrations of explosive compounds, and warheads." It might be time to mount a rescue operation. Wuv continues to walk and up the line looking over his men as he stops at the end of the line and stares at one his men. " I want you men to take pride in your duties, I will not accept any kind of failure on this tour do I make myself clear?" Wuv shouted as the men again acknowledge Wuv's order. Wuv walks back to the head of the line "I want hourly reports I want hour patrols, I want two men per post no one, and I mean no one is to go out on patrol without a partner is that clear!" he added as the men shout out their answer to Wuv. Twila looks over towards Sh0rty and gasps, her eyes going wide as she sees the playback. Rushing towards the R2 unit, she watches the playback after murmuring to the droid to play it back. "We have to move out! Now!" She looks at the gathered people, ESPO and Corsec alike. "Gren's been captured and it's now our job to get to him and get him out of what ever poodoo the fool got himself into. No capital ships, nothing bigger than small frieghters and fighters, if possible! Got it!?" Sh0rty's dome's given a pet as she regards it and then, "You're coming with me. You're the last...thing to see Gren and we're going to need you to show us where you two landed." Wuv looks at the techs and takes the datapad and looks it over as he notice a lot empty figthers with no pilots "What hell is going on here?" Wuv shakes his head in disbelief. " There is something going on here and I don't like it." Wuv mumbles. Wuv looks at the tech "Has anyone else seen these report?' he added. Twila looks over towards Sh0rty and gasps, her eyes going wide as she sees the playback. Rushing towards the R2 unit, she watches the playback after murmuring to the droid to play it back. "We have to move out! Now!" She looks at the gathered people, ESPO and Corsec alike. "Gren's been captured and it's now our job to get to him and get him out of what ever poodoo the fool got himself into. No capital ships, nothing bigger than small frieghters and fighters, if possible! Got it!?" Sh0rty's dome's given a pet as she regards it and then, "You're coming with me. You're the last...thing to see Gren and we're going to need you to show us where you two landed." Those striking caramel eyes gaze intently upon Wuv as Shakir listens to his words, those fingers of his tapping rapidly across his datapad as he speaks to his men. His attention is immediately diverted from Wuv to a yelling female voice somewhere behind him. Upon spinning around, his eyes widen as they fall upon a familiar face, "Well well.." he whispers to himself, quite surprised to see her, especially in this particular mood, the only time he's ever seen her she was either pouting or attempting to irritate him. He sighs and shakes his head a bit. Without taking a single glance at his datapad Shakir continues to type as much information as possible while trying to stay out of the way. Stepping from behind the crowd of ESPOs and CorSec folks watching the recording, and getting themselves prepared, thanks to Twila's excitement, is a tall, thin man dressed in the typical ESPO duty uniform. He is wearing the insignia of a First Lieutenant, and Wuv, and Shakir would recognize him as the ship's Executive Officer. "Lieutenant Trayaa. I expect you to work with our CorSec visitors to free the Captain, and bring him back, alive and in one piece." A gesture to the assault shuttle that was their intended transport..."Take your squads, and investigate...I cannot risk any more ships, not with all of those explosive-laden ships in orbit of the planet." A sigh, and he turns away..."Call if you need backup, but I won't risk the task force for one man." With that, the man is gone, leaving the operation in Twila, and Wuv's hands. The tech looks at Wuv, and smiles. "I showed them to the XO, Lieutenant." A glance at Twila, and then the still upset droid..."Send the droid to the cockpit of the shuttle, and they'll be able to take it from there." Wuv curses under his breath as he looks up at the tech and then at Twila. "Prepare a shuttle and take me to those coordinates I want to get a better look at those damn ships." he said in angry tone as he hands the tech his datapad. "I got a sick feeling in my stomach and I've got a feeling I'm going to find out there is something else out there beside those damn empty ships." Wuv add as he heads to the shuttlebay. Twila grabs for Wuv's arm, trying to yank him closer. "Screw the recon. We are going to get Gren the hell off that rock he found himself captured on and we're taking everyone and lots of guns." Wrinkling her nose, she motions to both the ESPOs and the Corsec members, murmuring to them as she tries to keep her voice low. She explains the situation, dubbing herself 'in charge' of the rescue mission, and then makes her way to the shuttle. If Sh0rty's going to come with he best do it now, otherwise the little trash can on wheel's getting left behind. Shakir listens to the executive officer for a moment he quickly turns to Wuv and notices him entering the shuttle bay. Shakir runs after him and, once he catches up, says, "Excuse me, I need to know if you are going to be engaging in any combat so I know where to set upout of the way" His voice trails off as he notices Twila speaking to him, "I-I think recon is always the best policy." Shakir has no urge to find himself caught in an ambush with these people. He pauses for a moment as he looks over the pair (Wuv and Twila) and quickly adds, "What are you feeling right now? What do you think has happened to your friend? What is your plan of action?" He holds up his datapad, ready to record their responses. Wuv looks back at Twila with a smile as he shakes his head agreeing with her comments."Sounds like a plan Twila, I want to know what happen to those pilots I don't like seeing all those empty ships out there in space." he says as he follows Twila to the shuttle bay, but he turns around to answer Shakir "I'm not planning on engaging no one I want to know what happen to those pilots, and why they are not in their ships." he added as he looks at Twila. "If you want to fight I suggest you go with Twila cause she got a plan that involves a lot of guns" he added with a smile,"As for me I want to take a good look at those ships." he added. The Assault Shuttle that has been earmarked for their use is sitting with it's ramp down, and being loaded with weapons by the twenty-five or so soldiers of CSSD and CorSec that are taking part in the operation, as our heroes enter the shuttle-bay, only to find another twenty-five soldiers of Force Litigator humping into the bay, and up the ramp. Well, the size of the force has doubled, atleast. SH0RTY spins in place for a moment, after having followed the group, as if trying to decide if he can bring himself to board the shuttle...though, apparently, part of Wuv's statement grabs his attention..and a segment of the holo-recording is played..*"I'll be fine. But, if something does happen, get your ass back to the Litigator, and get help. But, make sure they don't bring the whole fraggen picket fleet...no capitol ships...show them the scans of those explosive-laden freighters."** This small clip ends, as he tries to point out the important fact about them...they are filled with explosives. Bad. Finally, he hoots in fright, and forces himself up the ramp, spinning, and hooting at the officers still not aboard the shuttle, as if urging them aboard. Board the reckon shuttle Wuv looks at Sharik "Do you want to come with me I could use extra body?" he says as he motion to the shuttle pilot to get prep the shuttle for take off as he waits for answer from Shakir. Shakir raises a brow and cocks his head a bit as he listens to Wuv's question, "Um, no. I'm here to get information. Thanks, though." He adds a little smile after he says this. It's not a short flight, apparently, to the little droid's coordinates out on the edges of CSA space, but eventully, the assault shuttle does drop out of hyperspace...not that the people in the back can see anything, since there are no viewports. The shuttle's crew chief comes stalking back into the cockpit..."There's atleast forty ships out there, powered up, and totally lacking in life signs." A pause, and rubs a hand across his face..."Our sensors aren't as advanced as Captain Delede's Centurion, but his scans showed large amounts of explosives aboard then powered down vessels. /We/ are picking up transmissions from the service, going to the ships. They seem to be in binary. The pilot thinks that they're remote-operated bomb-ships. And the droid seems insistent that we should land at the coordinates he's provided..." A pause, and the man regards Twila, and Wuv, as if waiting for their orders. It's not a short flight, apparently, to the little droid's coordinates out on the edges of CSA space, but eventully, the assault shuttle does drop out of hyperspace...not that the people in the back can see anything, since there are no viewports. The shuttle's crew chief comes stalking back into the cockpit..."There's atleast forty ships out there, powered up, and totally lacking in life signs." A pause, and rubs a hand across his face..."Our sensors aren't as advanced as Captain Delede's Centurion, but his scans showed large amounts of explosives aboard then powered down vessels. /We/ are picking up transmissions from the service, going to the ships. They seem to be in binary. The pilot thinks that they're remote-operated bomb-ships. And the droid seems insistent that we should land at the coordinates he's provided..." A pause, and the man regards Twila, and Wuv, as if waiting for their orders. Suddenly the reckon shuttle scanners to start to beep rapidly as Wuv looks over to the reckon shuttle pilot. "What the hell is going on?" Wuv said with a puzzle sound to his voice. "Sir those empty ships are coming alive and they are with bombs that just went live sir." said the pilot as he looks at Wuv for commands, Wuv rubs his chin as he looks back at the shuttle piolt "Open channel to command for me." he says as the pilot opens a channel to command for Wuv "Command this Wuv we got a real serious mess out here the scnners on the reckon shuttle has notice that those ships are powering up and they carry bombs." Wuv added with a serious tone in his voice. Twila steps into the cockpit and then hmms softly. "No more communications until we make planetside, gentlemen. And turn off anything they might be able to pick up on during a sensor scan. Give them as little of a target as possible." Frowning, she turns around and speaks into the hold where the soldiers are. "Alright. You might want to hold on, men. Things have a very good chance of becoming explosive...pun intended...and I don't want anyone to get hurt because they got tossed about the ship. Understood?" Her back soon faces the personnel as she looks at the pilot. "Get us on that planet. This is a matter of Gren's life..and yours if you screw up." Wuv's stared at for a moment, perhaps daring him to challenge her orders but she's quickly strapping herself in, and apparently not going to listen to anyone even if she wasn't busy doing so. Shakir's eyes widen as he hears the familiar name of Delede. He looks to Twila with a concerned expression on his face, "Gren Delede?" He looks her over for a moment as he listens to her and quickly turns off his recording device. He takes off the device and places it in a pocket along with his datapad. He takes a seat among the fighters, and finds his hand unconsiously placing itself on the area of his leg wear that illegal blaster rifle is concealed beneath his loose-fitting pants. His gaze is blank for a moment as various flashbacks come to his mind....it's been a while since he's had to use this thing... Wuv grunts as he turns off the open channel and nods his head as he looks at Twila. Slowly Wuv stands up "I don't mean to over step my duties here, and understand that Gren means a lot too you, but my main concern is the safety of the lives on this shuttle." Wuv added as he points to the arm empty ships. "Whoever put these ships out here are going to use them as spacemines, and this could spell dangerous for us!" he added. Before the comm is clicked off, Command replies to Wuv's transmission..."We can't bring in the fleet, until those ships are disabled. Try and find the source of their control transmissions, Lieutenant..." But, the pilot looks up at the scary CorSec Colonel, and flicks off the communications. "Damn, that thing has a habit of malfunctioning." A slight smile, and he swings the shuttle toward the planet, the ship going dark as everything but the passive sensors, and thrusters are shut down. "Captain Delede gave me this job, saved me from an existence of supply runs to scattered depots." A wink, and the pilot guides the shuttle through it's rough re-entry. If anyone has noticed their presence, it's not happened yet. A few minutes pass, and he looks at Wuv, and Twila..."I'm detecting a power surg..." His somewhat annoyed statement is cut off, as the power surge's source is discovered, and the world starts spinning as an anti-starfighter battery opens up, ripping off one of the shuttle's wings, sending the vessel spiraling toward the ground in front of that lone mountain, thrusting out of the desert. It's still dark, on the planet, as the spaceship slams into the ground, and tumbles end over end, before coming to a crushing stop, just outside of the mountain. One entire wall of the shuttle is gone, and atleast ten ESPOs are gone, scattered in pieces, along the crash vector. Everyone else is likely bruised, and battered, but safety restraints, are good things. A chirp, and SH0RTY begins to scream, which might draw everyone's attention to the nice pilot, who's been cut in half the port wing, which has punched through the cockpit, and very nastily dispatched of the flight crew. Only stupid chance, saved SH0RTY, and the rest of the people in the cockpit. It's amazing how near-death experiences seem to cause one's life to flash before their eyes but it isn't one of those times for Twila. The safety harness has bruised her up pretty good, as did getting jolted around in her seat, but those injuries will take hours, perhaps even days to show, something to be thankful for as she's still pretty much at what one might consider full capacity. Wuv's glared at a moment as she tugs off the straps that held her to the chair, and the pilot's given a cursory glance. "Damn.." she says, fighting tears at the sight of the dead man. Death's one thing, but to see someone go like that, it brings things to an entirely different level of reality. "Sound off! And then get your asses off the shuttle!" Shakir instinctively grabs hold of his seat as the shuttle is hit and begins to spiral downward. He closes his eyes for a few moments as his body and head are flung to and frow by the tumultuous descent. As the shuttle lands with a crash, he opens his eyes quickly and looks around, horrified to notice the missing half of the ship. His attention being captured by that screaming droid, he turns quickly, panting as he looks over toward the source of the noise. His eyes widen as he looks over the mangled pilot and shouts out a Twi'lek swear word. A cheer sounds from nearby, and out of the missing half of the ship, the sight of approaching, rag-tag looking fighters can be seen, as they stop to scavenge weapons, and money from the dead ESPOs. They apparently, don't realize there are survivors within the shuttle, even as they come well within blaster range, as the shuttle is dark, and quiet, as even SH0RTY has shut up. There's only ten of them, too...compared to the thirty or so survivors that are still in fighting strength, the odds are in the erst-while rescuers favor. Twila kicks at Wuv's leg but she knows it's too late, those who entered the torn-up shuttle would most likely hear his swearing. Making a point to talk to Gren about training his people to know when to keep shut the hell up, she pulls out her DD6 and takes a shot once it's unconcealed and in her hand but misses. Twila unconceals her DD6 Blaster Pistol. An agitated, adrenaline pumped, and very pissed off Shakir unstraps himself from his seat and stands with his blaster rifle equipped. Snarling, Shakir aims it at the nearest goon and fires a shot. He lets out a very loud, long bellow as he watches his target go down and prepares to take another shot. The first volley of fire, led off by a miss from Colonel Virda is actually very devastating, thanks in part to the PR Guy, and the overwhelming superiority of the ESPO and CorSec numbers, with surprise on their side. There is one lone pirate left standing, looking scared as hell. He doesn't even get off a shot, he is so shocked. Though, he likely won't be around for long. The little astromech, coward that he is, can't stand the sight of organic's blood, and comes barreling out of the cockpit, and heads for the hole in the side of the ship...only to fall headfirst into the sand. An indignant scream! Once the ship is emptied, the heroes are faced with the site of a large pirate camp at the base of the mountain, with pre-fab huts, and a landing pad, covered in ships. There is also an entrance into the mountain, with transmitters visible on it's slopes. There don't seem to be a huge number of pirates about, but some are hurrying out of the huts, weapons in hand. It looks like, a slightly under-populated ant hill just got kicked. The camp is big enough to hold a few hundred people, not too mention the mountain. Wuv starts to fire random shots into the crowd of raiders as he hits one raider in the head. Wuv scans the area looking for more raiders. Twila grunts as she tugs on Wuv's arm, trying to get the men who are able to move going. "Take position there." she says as she starts to move at a dead run towards there the transmitters are, limping a bit thanks to the soreness that's starting to settle in. Damn rough landings. She doesn't care if Wuv has anything to say as she's going to drag him along with her if she needs to. Shakir pants as he watches the insuing volley of the surrounding military goons. Nostrils flared and heart pumping fast, he raises a brow as he notices the last man standing among his fallen comrades. Taking his blaster rifle, he aims it at him. Just as he is about to pull the trigger Wuv shoots him. After recollecting his thoughts he watches Twila begin to run off and immediately begins to follow her. As they near the lone mountain, twenty or so pirates that are close enough start to open up with blaster rifles, and pistols from range, aiming to knock down the ESPO and CorSec troops that follow Twila toward the transmitter-laden mountain. SH0RTY was helped up, and follows along behind mass of thirty allied soldiers, moving quickly over the hardpacked sand...but still not quite keeping up. There is a visible opening in the side of the mountain, as it appears to be a corridor that was blasted out by very high explosives...and there are atleast six pirates standing in front of the entrance, that also open fire...they'll need to be deal with, before entrance is gained. Wuv quickly hides behind some rocks as he dodges the hail of fire that comes his way as Wuv turns around he notices that two of his men where not so lucky as he watches fail to the ground. Wuv shakes his head again as he says a few curse words as he tries to get a clear look at who is doing all the firing,and the location of the raiders. "Don't stop!" Twila shouts as she looks at Wuv and Shakir, those two allowed to pass the orders on to those closest to them, her eyes narrowed as she manages to dodge a particularly nasty volley of blaster fire. She gets a round off and then shouts out for her men to shoot as well, emboldened by the sight of the pirate she was aiming at being taken out. Shakir crouches down, avoiding the hail of blaster fire overhead. Still crouched, Shakir fires off a quick shot at the center of the pirate group as he scurries to the left to find some cover. Calling back behind him he shouts, "Give 'em all you've got, boys!" He sneers as he sees his intended target fall to the ground and lets out a victorious whoop before crouching down behind a jagged rock to avoid incoming blaster fire. Well, the running firefight is going better for the outnumbered cops, as they jog forward, the CorSec troopers knocking down five of the guards on the Mountain's entrance, before Shakir's shot knocks down the last, leaving it currently undefended. A few of ESPO troopers take shots into the pirates that are shooting from the fringes of the camp, but even pirates more can be seen running to the landing pad. It looks like the bad guys are going to be getting air support. Damn, if that Mountain doesn't look welcoming. "Lieutenant! Can we engage freely? We need orders!" This is shouted by an ESPO Corporal, to Wuv, as the Chief of Security, hasn't given any orders to the men that he's supposed to be leading. SH0RTY is still following, as blaster bolts splash into to sand around him, that damned annoying scream still filling the air. Wuv quickly Wuv raises up from behind the rock and fires a couple of shots as he hits another pirate. Wuv turns around and looks at his men and screams "Move your asses I want you men to start shooting until there is no one left to shook back is that understood!" Wuv raises up and continues his firing. The Twi'lek's too busy running inside to shoot, the tall woman disappearing into the bunker, managing to easily dodge any blaster fire that was aimed in her direction. Her men do shoot, however, and they hit pretty darn on target, taking out several pirates before they follow their Colonel's 'example' and they run at full speed to the same bunker that Twila just entered. As blaster shots whiz overhead, Shakir crouches down and follows the group of ESPOs toward the cave entrance. He squints his eyes, attempting to make out where some of the pirates might be coming from. As a blaster shot whizzes over him, he aims his sawed-off blaster rifle at the source of the shot and lets one loose. Hearing a distant, muffled scream, Shakir assumes that his target fell. He takes one quick look at the incoming horde of enemy fighters and wastes no time in chasing after to Twila and her men to try and find some cover. The whine of engines approaching announces that the pair of Twi'leks, and CorSec types had the right idea, in charging toward the bunker, rather than taking cover. The ESPOs, and Wuv, who seemed more pre-occupied with firing from behind, than shucking ass toward the bunker entrance, could be in trouble. A pair old model Z-95 HeadHunters buzz overhead, peppering the CSSD troops with with their triple blaster cannons....and doing very little damage, apparently. One ESPO is torn in half by a cannon shot, but the rest survive...but a handful break in panic, and start running toward the bunker, only to be picked off. If Wuv wants to get his men out of their alive, he's going to have to get them moving, and firing as a unit, before the Headhunters return. Inside the bunker's foyer, Twila, and Shakir find a few mortally wounded pirates, and one who seems to be cowering with a flesh wound...he holds up his hands, instead of running into the central corridor of rough rock that seems to lead into the Mountain..."I don't know anything! I don't know where he is!" Okay, that's a dead give away, isn it?" A squeal announces that Sh0rty has survived, to make it to the current safety, afforded by the bunker's entryway. Wuv looks at his men and shout out an order "Get your asses in grear and head for that bunker now!" Wuv continues to fire as his men head for the Bunker Wuv follows behind his men as slides into the bunker looking around to make sure all his men were counted for and safe inside the bunker. Twila notices the cowering pirate, the one not suffering from a horrendous case of death and she goes to grab him by the front of his shirt while her pistol's brought to bear upon him, the barrel aiming for his temple. "I want to know who you guys are, I want to know what the hell's up with the ships-turned-spacemines and, most importantly, I want to know where Captain Delede is. And you better answer that in reverse order, you stinking piece of bantha poodoo." No unread messages on any board. Shakir catches up with the CorSec group and slows to a halt as he finds Twila holding some wounded pirate. A quick glance over his shoulder reveals the death of several ESPOs and the scattered condition in which they are running for cover. Panting, he turns back to the cowering pirate, listening to Twila ask her questions, "I'd answer her quickly, pal. We haven't got a lot of patience and you are standing between us..." he motions with his blaster rifle to all the armed men surrounding him, "and a good friend of ours. Talk." The wounded pirate, who is a small rodian, looks up at the pair, groaning in a very buzzy way. "Don't hurt Dandoi. No!" He holds his arms out even further, his little proboscis curls, and twitches in fear.."Dandoi not know who Captain Delede is." A pause, and he shudders, looking at the pair of Twi'leks, and the blaster the female has to his head. "We stunned man, took him to command center. He's very rude. Tried to stab me." This little alien isn't very smart, and it shows. "Best friend got shot by boss, for not searching him good 'nough...'rates got blown up." A twitch.."Bomb ships?" He obviously doesn't know about that.."We're the White Death! Most dangerous 'rates in space!" A glower out of his eyes, and he looks down...he's wet himself. He did gesture down the main corridor, when mentioning the command center. Wuv, and the ESPOs, take up positions at the door, firing at the approaching pirates, keeping them pinned behind the rocks, but once power cells run out, they could be in a lot of trouble. On the upside, the Headhunters aren't firing missiles into the bunker. Twila looks down at the wet spot and then up at the Rodian who is sneered at. She hands him off to one of Wuv's men and then motions towards Shakir and her men. "Come on...second thought.." She takes the pants-wetting 'pirate' by the scruff. "Consider yourself a prisoner of war. You're coming iwth us." She's not too gentle with her motions and Dandoi winds up dragged unless he can get his feet under him fast enough to aid in keeping up. Shakir's breath slows as he regains his energy. He follows Twila and the others, but keeps his rifle up in case an ambush should insue. He catches up with Twila as they walk quickly, "If he doesn't know where Delede is, why don't we just kill him?" Well, he did tell you about a man that tried to stab him, and blew up pirates, with some sort of concealed explosive. That happened to get ambushed and stunned. Does that sound like anyone you know, Shakir? The rodian just manages to keep up with Twila, making noises similar to the perpetually terrified little droid that follows behind the crowd. The corridor isn't that long, and seems to move steadily upward. Out of the only side corridor, comes a large crowd of pirates...and they've cut off our heroes, just outside of a large durasteel door, that appears to be unlocked. Looks like a rear-guard might be in order. Twila grins. THIS is why the little pants-piddler was dragged along and, with a jerk and a shove, she tries to shove the Rodian towards the crowd of pirates ahead of them while trying to get to the door. Hopefully it's the kind that opens when a body's near it, otherwise she's going to wind up pinned and possibly easily captured. She doesn't shoot, but the Corsec men who followed did and they all take shots at the pirates shooting from behind them while those in the front are left alone by her, for now. Twila grins. THIS is why the little pants-piddler was dragged along and, with a jerk and a shove, she tries to shove the Rodian towards the crowd of pirates ahead of them while trying to get to the door. Hopefully it's the kind that opens when a body's near it, otherwise she's going to wind up pinned and possibly easily captured. She doesn't shoot, but the Corsec men who followed did and they all take shots at the pirates shooting from behind them. Shakir instinctively ducks as the sound of blasters erupt from behind him and a few bolts whir past. He quickly spins around and, taking aim of pirate he sees, blasts his head off with that rifle of his. He calls back over his shoulders toward Twila, "We've got company, Twila!" Well, the door is not the kind that opens as they approach, but the wet-fronted Rodian seems to be more afraid of the crowd of pirates than anyone, and darts back behind Twila, reaching out a code into the control panel, leaving the door open for anyone wants to follow. Not that it'd be good for everyone to follow, as someone has to keep those pirates at bay! As soon as the room is entered, the signs of a certain pilot's being there can be seen. The room is filled with antiquated computer equipment, one corner of which is filled with shrapnel, and scorch marks, and a little bit of blood that whoever tried to clean, missed. There are also four well-armed pirates in the room, one of whom holds a knife, dressed in white, that appears to be working on a shirtless man, seated, unbound on a chair in the center of the room. The man is covered in small cuts, his back bleeding from numerous places, but, when he turns his head, slowly, as the door opens, it's apparent who he is. It's Gren, and his face is a bloody mess, an empty left eye socket staring, stuffed with gauze. The pirates seem to be a bit surprised, and don't have time to react, for a few, crucial moments. Twila turns as Gren does and she frowns, freezing as she regards her love. "No..." she whispers at first, then screams as she rushes to him. "NO!" The bonds are struggled with as she tries to free him from the chair, her hands grasping frantically at the straps as she yells at the Corsec guys. "Hold the door.." she says as she works on getting Gren up and out of the room. "I'm going to get you home, Gren...Oh..." Upon seeing Gren and the horrid state he's in, Twila feels her blood run chill and she gives a single command to the Corsec men as she raises her weapon, aiming for anyone who might look like they're in charge. "Hold..the door." She steps just within as she squeezes the trigger, trying to shool whomever looks to be the leader of the little gaggle of baddies. Shakir sneers as a few more pirates hit the dirt. He spins around quickly upon hearing blaster fire behind him, assuming that Twila has now been caught up. "Hold the door!" He repeats over his shoulder as he regroups with Twila. Seeing the assembled group of pirates before him, and not noticing the sprawled figure of Gren, Shakir sends pulls the trigger and heads for a nearby computer consol for cover. "You stupid little cretin!" This is growled by the man in white, as he sidesteps the blaster fire directed his way, and dives toward the Rodian, the vibro-knife in his hand, being swung at the alien. "You let them in!" The lead pirate is a big, athletic fellow, and moves like a trained warrior. The other three in the room, aren't nearly as adept, and while they fire their blaster pistols at Shakir, and Twila...they are not much more accurate than the rest. The little screaming droid appears in the room, spinning around, and sounding as if he's giving the tired, pained looking Delede quite the lecture. "Twila?" Delede says this is as if unbelieving, the man shaking his bloody head, and moving to stand, looking fairly steady on his feet, even if he's missing an eye, and covered in small cuts. He shuffles, slowly, toward a corner, trying not to avoid attention....there's a pile of weapons there...looks like his equipment. "SH0RTY, get these transmitters turned off! We need fleet support!" "Stay out of harms way, Gren." Twila says to the injured ESPO, her eyes locked firmly on the burlier of the three. She steps closer, not caring that they shot at her, the fact that she's as pissed off as she is and cocky over how she managed to duck for cover, making her a bit more reckless than she normally would be. Another shot's fired off, but instead of her DD6 she changes weapons and uses her EKX-10, instead. Shakir slides on the ground behind a nearby computer consol, dodging some blaster shot. He looks around for Twila, placing his back to the consol with his rifle in hand. Those piercing eyes of his find her walking out in the open toward the lead pirate, "Twila! Get back!" He attempts to provide her with covering fire by shooting at one of the other goons. Both of their targets are hit, but the burly fellow shrugs off his blast, while the second, shot by Shakir, seems to be too stunned to act coherently for a critical few moment. The pirate leader seems to be lost in a fit of rage, slashing at the rodian, dismantling him in a spray of green blood. The two unhurt lackeys open fire on Shakir, and Twila, again... Gren reaches down, finds his Bi-Polar, and turns around, flicking off the safety, and fires a crazy blast at the pirate leader, too pissed, hurt, and still unaccustomed to his missing eye to be very accurate. A triumphant chirp, and SH0RTY's interfacing probe retracts from the antiquated equipment, intercoms coming to life in the command center. "This is CSAV Litigator...binary transmission received, we are on the edge of the system, and commencing a micro-jump, now....good work on shutting down those bomb ships." The droid starts to spin happily...it would appear, that the XO wasn't so willing to not come to help. He just needed to know that the bombs were safe. Twila looks at Gren as he shoots, nodding in silent approval. It's good to know that he's still alright enough to try and fight but the minor celebration inside her head is quelled quickly, the need to draw more blood of her own and to exact her own brand of reveng too great to keep her inactive for long. Yet another shot's let off, the blaster rifle still pointed at the leader. Shakir shakes his head as Twila refuses to come back behind cover. He sighs and stands up from behind the consol, taking aim at the head pirate. Pulling on the trigger, he lets one fly in an attempt to bring the burly man down. Gren curses, as his first, and second plasma bursts both go wide, the pilot still too hurt to fire with any accuracy...the man's eye continues to bleed around the gauze that's been stuffed into the socket...the formerly attractive man looking a freak show, currently. The Rodian is dead, and the pirates all focus their fire on Twila, Gren, and Shakira, realizing that if they are going to survive, they need to get off world, as soon as possible, with a VSD and it's task force en route....klaxons begin to go off, as the base's proximity sensors begin to announce the arrival of a large formation of ships.....which is quickly followed by the thumping of an orbital bombardment under way. They must have come out of hyperspace all but on top of the planet! Shakir manages to easily sidestep a few blaster shots. He calls out to the rest of the CorSec officers, "We could use some backup in here!" As he says this, Twi falls to the floor. His eyes widen and he furiously aims back at the main thug, firing off a shot. The pirate in white, seems to be content, with Twila's being knocked down, looking at the wounded Gren, and merely pointing at him.."The White Death will find you." It's just a few seconds, and he tosses what appears to be a small grenade, out of the room's doorway, into the cluster of CorSec officers that have survived the extended firefight with the pirates. It's merely a flash grenade, but it's enough to fill the corridor with thunder, and light...allowing the man's escape. Atleast, out of the bunker. The other three pirates actually drop their weapons, as their leader flees, leaving them to take the heat, immediately offering to point them in the direction of his other bases, and all of those fun things to save their skin. A glance at Shakir, and Delede levels his Bi-Polar at the unarmed, and stationary pirates, burning one down with a plasma blast to the face, which melts his head, more or less. He leaves the other two, looking at the CorSec officers, as they charge in.....followed very shortly by a horde of ESPOs, the first members of the Litigator's Landing parties. "Keep them alive." Finally, he drops his weapon, and stumbles over to Twila, where she's fallen..."You shouldn't have come..." He whispers, and takes her hand, waiting for the medics...listening to the muffled sounds of his task force leveling the pirate camp, and slaughtering the bastards.